GDP: purchasing power parity - $1.22 trillion (1996 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 1.3% (1996 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $20,900 (1996 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 2.4% industry: 26.5% services: 71.1% (1994)
Inflation rate - consumer price index: 1.7% (1996)
Labor force: total : 25.5 million by occupation: services 69%, industry 26%, agriculture 5% (1995)
Unemployment rate: 12.7% (1966)
Budget: revenues: $250 billion expenditures: $300 billion, including capital expenditures of $34 billion (1996 est.)
Industries: steel, machinery, chemicals, automobiles, metallurgy, aircraft, electronics, mining, textiles, food processing, tourism
Industrial production growth rate: 0.6% (1996 est.)
Electricity - capacity: 102.94 million kW (1994)
Electricity - production: 492.7 billion kWh (1995)
Electricity - consumption per capita: 6,278 kWh (1995 est.)
Agriculture - products: wheat, cereals, sugar beets, potatoes, wine grapes; beef, dairy products; fish catch of 850,000 metric tons ranks among world's top 20 countries and is all used domestically
Exports: total value: $275 billion (f.o.b., 1996) commodities: machinery and transportation equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs, agricultural products, iron and steel products, textiles and clothing partners: Germany 17%, Italy 9%, UK 9%, Spain 8%, Belgium-Luxembourg 8%, US 6%, Netherlands 4.5%, Japan 2%, Russia 0.7% (1996)
Imports: total value: $255.5 billion f.o.b., 1996) commodities: crude oil, machinery and equipment, agricultural products, chemicals, iron and steel products partners: Germany 17%, Italy 10%, US 8%, Belgium-Luxembourg 8%, UK 8%, Spain 7%, Netherlands 5%, Japan 3%, Russia 1.5% (1996)
Debt - external: $117.6 billion (1996 est.)
Economic aid: donor : ODA, $7.915 billion (1993)
Currency: 1 French franc (F) = 100 centimes
Exchange rates: French francs (F) per US$1 - 5.4169 (January 1997), 5.1155 (1996), 4.9915 (1995), 5.5520 (1994), 5.6632 (1993), 5.2938 (1992)
Fiscal year: calendar year
@France:Communications
Telephones: 35 million (1987 est.)
Telephone system: highly developed domestic: extensive cable and microwave radio relay; extensive introduction of fiber-optic cable; domestic satellite system international: satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (with total of 5 antennas - 2 for Indian Ocean and 3 for Atlantic Ocean), NA Eutelsat, 1 Inmarsat (Atlantic Ocean Region); HF radiotelephone communications with more than 20 countries
Radio broadcast stations: AM 41, FM 800 (mostly repeaters), shortwave 0
Radios: 49 million (1993 est.)
Television broadcast stations: 846 (mostly repeaters) note: Eutelsat receive-only TV service
Televisions: 29.3 million (1993 est.)
The 1997 Cia World Factbook · The Wunder Library — complete classics, free to read, with narration.